Ahmed Qazi sprinkles rosewater on the grave of his mother, Tahira Qazi, headteacher of the Army Public School in Peshawar. Photograph: Sara Farid/Reuters

Amid the depravity of the Taliban’s murderous assault on the Army Public School in Pakistan, there were acts of heroism that served in themselves as eloquent condemnation: the pupils who rushed to save their younger siblings; the boys who led others to areas of relative safety and had them play dead. And then there were the teachers.

Prior to the attack the terrorists sought immortality via a group photograph posted on social media. But the enduring memory will be of staff members who lost their lives trying to protect the students. They were led by Tahira Qazi, the headteacher. According to reports, she was rescued from the carnage but, ignoring all warnings, returned to the building. “I can’t go into safety leaving my children among the beasts,” she is said to have told those around her.

The terrorists apparently confronted her with the demand, “Where are the students and why are you hiding them?” Eyewitnesses say she did not flinch, and replied: “Talk to me, I am their mother.” Those words appear to have been her last. She was shot, her death a statement – but not as the attackers intended. A symbol of defiance, some have called Qazi the mother of Pakistan. She is the hope for the nation in the years ahead.